CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.



                                                   HOUSE AMENDMENT

    hbd-27                                          Bill No. HB 61

    Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)

                            CHAMBER ACTION
              Senate                               House
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  5                                           ORIGINAL STAMP BELOW

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11  Representative(s) Seiler offered the following:

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13         Substitute Amendment for Amendment (355231) (with title

14  amendment) 

15  Remove everything after the enacting clause

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17  and insert:

18         Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this

19  act are found and declared to be true.

20         Section 2.  The North Broward Hospital District is

21  directed to compensate Lori Schwartz and Larry Schwartz as

22  parents and legal guardians of Mark Schwartz, a minor, in the

23  amount of $400,000 for injuries and damages caused by the

24  negligence of the district, such payment to be made out of the

25  district's Self Insured Trust. After payment of statutory

26  attorney's fees and costs, the balance shall be paid into the

27  guardianship account established for Mark Schwartz. 

28         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

29  law.

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    File original & 9 copies    03/13/02
    hbd0007                     11:40 am         00061-0092-101383




                                                   HOUSE AMENDMENT

    hbd-27                                          Bill No. HB 61

    Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)





  1  ================ T I T L E   A M E N D M E N T ===============

  2  And the title is amended as follows:

  3  remove:  the entire title

  4

  5  and insert:

  6                  A bill to be entitled

  7         An act relating to the North Broward Hospital

  8         District; providing for the relief of Mark

  9         Schwartz, a minor, for injuries sustained as a

10         result of the negligence of employees of the

11         Coral Springs Medical Center; providing an

12         effective date.

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14         WHEREAS, on April 29, 1997, Lori Schwartz, who was nine

15  months pregnant and in labor, presented herself at the Coral

16  Springs Medical Center, and

17         WHEREAS, Ms. Schwartz was admitted to the hospital,

18  where her difficult labor continued for many hours, and

19         WHEREAS, the nurses who cared for Ms. Schwartz during

20  her labor were aware of the difficulties of the labor and of

21  the indication of fetal distress, and

22         WHEREAS, the nurses caring for Ms. Schwartz during her

23  labor failed to assess the situation and communicate the

24  difficulties of the labor and the fetal distress to the

25  obstetrician in a timely manner, and

26         WHEREAS, as a result of the nurses' failure to timely

27  assess the situation and timely notify the physician of the

28  fetal distress, Ms. Schwartz's baby, Mark Schwartz, suffered

29  anoxic encephalopathy during deliver, and

30         WHEREAS, as a result of the lack of oxygen during his

31  birth, Mark Schwartz suffers from serious and irreversible

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    File original & 9 copies    03/13/02
    hbd0007                     11:40 am         00061-0092-101383




                                                   HOUSE AMENDMENT

    hbd-27                                          Bill No. HB 61

    Amendment No. 1 (for drafter's use only)





  1  brain damage, which has left him profoundly disabled with

  2  severe cognitive and motor dysfunction necessitating full-time

  3  care for the rest of his life, and

  4         WHEREAS, a lawsuit was filed against the North Broward

  5  Hospital District and others for compensation, and

  6         WHEREAS, during the litigation but before trial, the

  7  parties reached a settlement, and

  8         WHEREAS, pursuant to the settlement, the North Broward

  9  Hospital District has agreed to pay a total of $600,000 to

10  compensate Mark Schwartz for his injuries, and

11         WHEREAS, the hospital district has paid $200,000,

12  pursuant to section 768.28, Florida Statutes, and agrees to

13  affirmatively support a claim bill in the amount of $400,000,

14  NOW, THEREFORE,

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    File original & 9 copies    03/13/02
    hbd0007                     11:40 am         00061-0092-101383